Michelle Williams Gamaker is a moving image and performance artist based in London. Her work explores the fiction-making machine of 20th Century British and Hollywood studio films by restaging sequences to reveal cinematic construction, and recasting characters to propose alternative endings that counter their often doom-laden plight. She recently completed Dissolution, a trilogy of films comprising House of Women (2017),The Fruit is There to be Eaten (2018) and The Eternal Return (2019) in which characters from Powell and Pressburger’s 1947 Black Narcissus unravel as they become aware of their screen and staged realities.
Williams Gamaker’s key focus is the development of ‘fictional activism’: the restoration of marginalised characters as central figures, who return in her works as vocal brown protagonists challenging the fictional injustices to which they have been historically consigned. Scriptwriting, workshopping with actors, acquiring film memorabilia and producing props for the intricate restaging of her film sets are all vital elements in the reenactment of the artificial landscapes that shaped Williams Gamaker’s love of cinema.
These fictional activists are mutable subjects that can be played either by Williams Gamaker herself – such as her alter ego Violet Culbo – or by long-term collaborators who take on multiple personas, including Indian-born US film star Sabu or characters such as Kanchi from Black Narcissus (1947) or O-Lan from The Good Earth (1937).
Collaboration is also a crucial element of Williams Gamaker’s work; since 2009 she has worked with American artist Julia Kouneski, revisiting the psychotherapeutic work of Brazilian artist Lygia Clark, as inspiration for interventions with the body, architecture and landscape.
Williams Gamaker has also completed several videos and installations exploring migratory aesthetics, mental health, and the emotional complexities of capitalism and gender ideology. This overlaps with her 11-year collaboration with artist and cultural theorist Mieke Bal, and their experimental films which explore making as theoretical fiction.
Williams Gamaker is a Lecturer in BA Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, University of London, Chair of Trustees at Pavilion in Leeds and co-founder of the Women of Colour Index (WOCI) Reading Group working with the group between 2016-19 with Samia Malik and Rehana Zaman.
The artist is represented by Tintype Gallery, London:
https://www.tintypegallery.com/artists/michelle-williams-gamaker/
Williams Gamaker’s key focus is the development of ‘fictional activism’: the restoration of marginalised characters as central figures, who return in her works as vocal brown protagonists challenging the fictional injustices to which they have been historically consigned. Scriptwriting, workshopping with actors, acquiring film memorabilia and producing props for the intricate restaging of her film sets are all vital elements in the reenactment of the artificial landscapes that shaped Williams Gamaker’s love of cinema.
These fictional activists are mutable subjects that can be played either by Williams Gamaker herself – such as her alter ego Violet Culbo – or by long-term collaborators who take on multiple personas, including Indian-born US film star Sabu or characters such as Kanchi from Black Narcissus (1947) or O-Lan from The Good Earth (1937).
Collaboration is also a crucial element of Williams Gamaker’s work; since 2009 she has worked with American artist Julia Kouneski, revisiting the psychotherapeutic work of Brazilian artist Lygia Clark, as inspiration for interventions with the body, architecture and landscape.
Williams Gamaker has also completed several videos and installations exploring migratory aesthetics, mental health, and the emotional complexities of capitalism and gender ideology. This overlaps with her 11-year collaboration with artist and cultural theorist Mieke Bal, and their experimental films which explore making as theoretical fiction.
Williams Gamaker is a Lecturer in BA Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, University of London, Chair of Trustees at Pavilion in Leeds and co-founder of the Women of Colour Index (WOCI) Reading Group working with the group between 2016-19 with Samia Malik and Rehana Zaman.
The artist is represented by Tintype Gallery, London:
https://www.tintypegallery.com/artists/michelle-williams-gamaker/
EDUCATION
2012
PhD in Fine Art, Goldsmiths College, University of London
2005-06
MA Visual Anthropology, Goldsmiths College, University of London
1998-01
BA Fine Art (First Class Hons), Middlesex University
1997-98
BTEC Diploma in Art & Design, Middlesex University
INTERNATIONAL RESIDENCIES
2003-05
de Ateliers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND SCREENINGS
Selected Solo Shows (2020-2015)
Nov 2020 The Silver Wave, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
Nov 2020 The End of the River, Blenheim Walk Gallery, Leeds
Sep 2019 Distant Relative, Tintype, London
Jan 2013 Head On, Punt WG, Amsterdam
Group Exhibitions/Screenings
2020
Feb Go On Being So, Newlyn Art Gallery and the Exchange, Penzance
Feb 3 screenings as part of Shadow Catchers: Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Michelle Williams Gamaker, Domain Theatre, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2019
Dec More Gravy! Tintype Gallery, London
Nov Mascara Film Club 05: Bo Choy, Michelle Williams Gamaker, Jennifer Martin, Rhea Storr
July Monitor 13: Dance on my head and scratch my heart, Savac, Toronto
Apr All About You The Koppel Project, HIVE, curated by Alex White
Mar Madame B Explorations in Emotional Capitalism (with Mieke Bal) Lethaby Gallery, London
2018
Essex Road 5 Tintype, London, commissioned to make Encore (Resurrection Manifestations), short film for Tintype’s annual moving image programme
62nd BFI London Film Festival, Experimenta – Performing Invisibility - programmed by Qila Gill [Screening of House of Women]
22nd Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Switzerland: The Female Gaze (Screening of House of Women)
MIX Copenhagen LGBTQ Film Festival (Screening of Brown Queers)
Pink Screens Film Festival, Cine Nova, Brussels (Screening of Brown Queers)
Women, Power, Protest, Arts Council Collection at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, (10 Nov 2018 – 31 March 2019)
Queering the Collection at MIMA, Middlesbrough, curated by Claire Mead and Helen Welford
Curious Arts Festival, Baltic, Newcastle (screening of Brown Queers, 2017 programmed by Gem Andrews)
The Palace International Film Festival 2018
Library Interventions: Moving Knowledge, Blenheim Walk Gallery, Leeds Art University (co curated by Michelle Williams Gamaker and Nick Norton)
Freud Museum, Solitary Pleasures, Freud Museum, London (curated by Marquard Smith)
Panorama, Dortmund/Cologne International Women’s Film Festival
BFI FLARE LGBTQ+ Film Festival (3 screenings of Brown Queers, 2017 in Brown is the Warmest Colour, programmed by Jay Bernard)
History Repeats Itself Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA)
Transmediale Festival: Face Value – White Balance and On Resentment
2017
21st Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Switzerland (screening of House of Women, 2017)
Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival (November 14 to 19 2017, (screening of House of Women, 2017)
l’Alternativa 2017 – 24th Barcelona Independent Film Festival (screening of House of Women, 2017)
Work Work curated by Jo Addison, Adam Gillam and Mark Harris) Tintype, London
The World Made New at Pi Projects, London (curated by Oliver Sumner)
Madame B Explorations in Emotional Capitalism, Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova, Turku, Finland
Video Vortex VI (curated by Rashmi Sawhney) Kochi-Muziris Biennial, India
Concrete Jungle (with Julia Kouneski) Annka Kultys Gallery, London (curated by Alexandra White)
Emma and Edvard, Love in the Time of Loneliness, Munch Museet, Oslo, Norway (curated by Mieke Bal)
2016
Video Screening, Artist’s Films at The Swiss Church London
Wayfaring, &Model, Leeds (curated by Laura White)
Precarity (with Mieke Bal) Arts and Technology Research Lab, Dublin, Ireland
2015
Precarity (with Mieke Bal) The Importance of Being a (Moving) Image”, The National Gallery, Prague (Adam Budak)
2014
Cause & Effect (with Mieke Bal) VIVA festival, Valletta, Malta
Madame B Explorations in Emotional Capitalism (with Mieke Bal)
World Premiere, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Gallery of Sydney, College of the Arts, Australia
Sala de Arte, EAFIT Universidad, and Sala U Universidad Nacional, Medellín, Colombia
The Post House, Eckerro, Åland, Finland
Madame B: Emotions and Capitalism, Vaal Gallery, Tallinn, Estonia
Madame B: When Love Fails Us, Museum Bärengasse, Zürich, Switzerland
2013
Head-On, Punt WG, Amsterdam
Madame B: Explorations in Emotional Capitalism, Museum Sztuki, Łódź, Poland
2012
-ology, Amstel 41 gallery, Amsterdam
Saying It, Freud Museum, London (Arts Council of England)
Cosas imposibles, Nave Generadores, Monterrey, Mexico June 21-September 3, 2012
Past Landscape: Among Old Masters, Göttingen, Kunstsammlung der Georg-August Universität Göttingen
Eine zweite chance, VBKÖ, Vienna
Islands of Madness, Galleri Kakelhallen in Mariehamn, Åland
Madness as Insight, City Library, Turku, Finland
2011
What Culture Silences, Festival on Wheels, Goethe Institute, Ankara, Turkey,
Landscapes of Madness, curated by Mia Hannula, Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova, Turku, Finland
Towards the Other, Museum of the city of Saint Petersburg, Peter & Paul Fortress, St Petersburg, Russia.
Facing It: Imaging Madness,” Broadcast Gallery, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin, Ireland,
La última frontera / The Last Frontier, Fundación José García Jiménez, Murcia, Spain,
The Last Frontier, Fundación José Garcia Jiménez, Murcia, Spain
The Bioscope, Johannesburg, South Africa,
Wexner Art Center, Ohio, USA
Bosch Art Film, Verkade Fabriek, Den Bosch, Netherlands
2010
The Space In-Between, at “Images Moving Across the Arts and Disciplines” conference, Laterna Film Academy, Pécs, Hungary
Tony Zielgler: The Alienation of Objects, Zabludowicz Collection, London
Body/Space Mechanics, De Hallen, Haarlem, Netherlands (curated by Xander Karskens)
Adaptation: Between Species The Power Plant, Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Mère Folle, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain, Mère Folle,
KIZ Royal, (Kunsthaus) Graz, Austria
Spatial Relations, Centrum Berlin, Germany,
The Space In-Between, (Bal & Williams Gamaker) Pécs, Hungary
2009
Miss B’s Salon, Wartesaal, Perla Moda, Zurich (June 2009) (Kouneski & Williams Gamaker)
Screening of Colony at Mostly It Happens at Night, Bijlmer, Amsterdam (curated by Maaike Gouwenberg)
2008
Becoming Vera, The Cambridge Film Festival (09/08)
In a Manner of Speaking, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow- curated by Lois Rowe
2:Move: Migratory Aesthetics, Belfast, Ireland
Film screening of Colony and Becoming Vera; alongside lecture with Mieke Bal (Hearing Voices, or How to Not Speak for the Other), Helsinki University, Finland
2:Move: Migratory Aesthetics, Tromsø, Norway
2007
The Switch Live Art Performance: Dreaming Confusion, Camden Arts Centre, London
2:Move: Migratory Aesthetics Zuiderzeemuseum Enkhuizen, The Netherlands.
Double Movement, Migratory Aesthetics curated by Mieke Bal, Murcia, Spain
2006
Cinema Suitcase screenings: Dis-Economy of Life (curated by Marko Stamenkovic)
Migratory Aesthetics, Travelling Concepts & Organization of Economic Life - Collaborative Media
Project, and Travelling Video Installation: Mille et un Jours(2004) and Colony (2006):
Klub Kulture, Krizevci, Croatia> 26/09/2006: MMC Palach, Rijeka, Croatia>
Monte Paradizo Hacklab Pula (Croatia) 04/11/06: Independent Art Space Studio
Dauhaus Sofia, Bulgaria, Artpool Art Research Center, Budapest, Hungary
Bucharest Biennial 3, 23/06/2007 TV Buna Dimineata, Romania (Good Morning, Romania)
O3ONE, Belgrade,Serbia
Und Gretel, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club curated by Sam Trotman
2005
Masculinities, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, curated by Kathrin Becker, Germany.
Detoures, Salon Mactavish, Amsterdam
All About Évike (film screening) Rialto Cinema, Amsterdam
Cinema Suitcase Unpacked, Staten Island, NYC, USA
2004
Elizabitch (G.Ward & M.Williams), screening at the Filmmuseum, Rialto Cinema, Kamer 301, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Your Heart is no Match for my Love, Soap Factory, USA. Curated by Bree Edwards
Lady into Fox, De Ateliers, Amsterdam
Mille et un jours, Cinema Suitcase, 46-minute social documentary on migration, Amsterdam/Paris
University of Trondheim, Norway, conference «Modes of Seeing », University Tromso, Norway, PhD course on Multiculturality
Einstein Forum, Potsdam, Germany, exhibited in Alien-3, curated by Heidrun Holzfeind, W139, Amsterdam
2003
Reality Check, (British Council/Photographers Gallery) Zagreb, Croatia
Intravention, W139/Museum Amstelkring Amsterdam, Netherlands
Les Rencontres Internationale, Paris, France, Berlin, Germany.
Reality Check, Gallery Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic, The Arsenals, Riga, Latvia, Bunkier Gallery, Kracow, Poland
2002
Reality Check, (British Council/Photographers Gallery), 14 Wharf Road, London, England
Reality Check, Moderna Galerija, Lubliana, Slovenia
Transport, Export House, London, England.
Heimlich – Unheimlich, RMIT Gallery, curated by Juliana Engberg Melbourne, Australia
Heavy Petting – De Ooievaar, Den Haag, The Netherlands
National Review of Live Art, The Arches, Glasgow, Scotland.
Light Structures, Tate Britain, London, Arnolfini, Bristol curated by Dryden Goodwin
2001
Tranz>Tech, New Media Biennial, Toronto, Canada, curated by Dryden Goodwin
Youthquake II, Gallery W139, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Curated by Jean Bernard Koemann
New Contemporaries, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Arts, Sunderland, Camden Arts Centre,
London, curated by Chris Ofil, Mike Nelson and Jennifer Higgie
Meddle, 5 Years Gallery, London
Monologue (performance), East End Collaborators Platform, London
2000
The Unfortunate Box, (performance with Eleanor Pearce) Bang! Notes, recordings and other things,
Standpoint Gallery, London (Katherine Meynell)
Nutritive Tonic, Gallery 291, Hackney, London
Uncut Screenings, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), London, England.
1999
W.A.T.G? (performance), Art in Time Festival, Cardiff
JURY MEMBERSHIPS
2020
John Moores Painting Prize 2020, National Museums Liverpool
Barbican Arts Trust Prize 2020
2020
John Moores Painting Prize 2020, National Museums Liverpool
Barbican Arts Trust Prize 2020
AWARDS
2017
Research Support Award (RSA), Goldsmiths, London (travel to L.A)
CHASE Cohort Development Fund for Women of Colour Index (WOCI) Reading Group
2016
Research Support Award, Goldsmiths, London
BFI EXPERIMENTA Speed Pitch
Cross Channel Film Lab (Le Groupe Ouest)
2015
Film London (FLAMIN) New Approaches scheme (until 2017)
Research Support Award, Goldsmiths College, University of London
2012
Grants for the Arts, Arts Council of England
2011-13
Mondriaan Stichting, Netherlands
2009
Academic Travel Bursary - Brazil, Goldsmiths College, University of London
2006-2009
Visual Arts Departmental Bursary Goldsmiths College, University of London
2005-6
AHRC Professional Research Masters Award, Visual Anthropology
2003
Millennium Commission Award – UK lottery funding
2002
First Base, ACAVA Studio Award, London
2001
Bloomberg New Contemporaries
Collections
Arts Council of England
The New Contemporaries Archive, UK
V Tape Archive, Toronto, Canada
Selected Talks/Artist Events
2017
DEEP ANGER TRUE LOVE TENDER CARE, the Horse Hospital, July 2017
Spectacular Evidence, performance at Artsadmin, March 2017
2016
“The Fruit is there to be Eaten”. Artist’s talk: Artsadmin November 2016
2015
“Reach Out” Tate Modern, Clore Corridor and screening room, November 2015
2014
On Madame B, Stedelijk Musuem, Amsterdam, September 2014
Artist’s talk, Kingston University, London
Artist’s talk Curatorial School, Valetta, Intenational Visual Arts, August 2014
On Madame B, Universidad EAFIT, Medellín, Colombia, May 2014
Madame B quotation as performance, keynote, Konstrudan Turku, Finland April 2014
Sleep Talking at Project Space Roos Breeuwer, Amsterdam, April 2014
NIAS Keynote lecture, Wassenar, the Netherlands, January 2014
2012
Innocent Interlopers, Artists and the Ethics of Interaction, FABRICA, Brighton, Nov 2012
2011
Violet Culbo, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, November 2011
Goldsmiths College, University of London screening of A Long History of Madness,
Mieke Bal and Michelle Williams Gamaker in conversation
2010
Home Truths – a post-Christmas analysis, Camden Arts Centre, London
New Contemporaries Archive, ICA, London (curated by Sacha Craddock)
“Body/Space Mechanics: Kouneski &Williams Gamaker in conversation, De Hallen, Haarlem
Spatial Relations, Centrum Berlin, Germany
The Space In-Between (Bal & Williams Gamaker) Museum Janus Pannonius, Pécs, Hungary
Mère Folle, KIZ Royal (Kunsthaus) Graz, Austria
Mère Folle, Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Spain
(Mère Folle screenings)
Fondation Nant, Vevey, Switzerland
Freud Museum, Vienna, Austria
Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, Mass.
Columbia University, New York
Huntingdon Cinema Arts Center, Long Island
New York University, New York
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
ASAP Association for the Study of Art in the Present, Trier, German - Bal & Williams Gamaker in conversation
Mère Folle, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands 24/06
Kouneski & Williams Gamaker in conversation, de Hallen, Haarlem, Netherlands
Maison Descartes, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Bal, Davoine & Williams Gamaker in conversation)
Madness and Arts Festival 2010, Filmschuur, Haarlem, Netherlands & Lunch Out of the Box Filmmakers in conversation
Maison Descartes, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2009
Performativity Symposium, Goldsmiths College, London
Scaling COPAN, Live event with Julia Kouneski, Capacete Foundation, São Paulo
Psychoanalysis and Cinema panel guest, at Miss B’s Salon, London
GAGA, Events Day, Goldsmiths College, London
Nice Suit, panel guest, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, London
2008
“2MOVE: Migratory Aesthetics,” panel guest, Belfast, Ireland, May 2008
Border Crossing; Art/Anthropology Exchange, Goldsmiths College, London
Reading The Artist – performance/events day, Goldsmiths College, London
Routemaster General, LONDON film screening, Gallery 176, London (The Zabludowicz Collection)
2007
Open Studio Paul Johnson: In discussion with Michelle Williams, Camden Arts Centre, November
The Celestial Telegraph, The Camden Arts Centre, London
Serena Korda’s Whitstable Reading Group - discussing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
2006
Discussion on Colony at de Appel curating course, Amsterdam
2004
Adieu, Performance with Dale Holmes and Alex Fischer Events Day, de ateliers,
Amsterdam, curated by Michelle Williams and Willem Orbeek
2017
Research Support Award (RSA), Goldsmiths, London (travel to L.A)
CHASE Cohort Development Fund for Women of Colour Index (WOCI) Reading Group
2016
Research Support Award, Goldsmiths, London
BFI EXPERIMENTA Speed Pitch
Cross Channel Film Lab (Le Groupe Ouest)
2015
Film London (FLAMIN) New Approaches scheme (until 2017)
Research Support Award, Goldsmiths College, University of London
2012
Grants for the Arts, Arts Council of England
2011-13
Mondriaan Stichting, Netherlands
2009
Academic Travel Bursary - Brazil, Goldsmiths College, University of London
2006-2009
Visual Arts Departmental Bursary Goldsmiths College, University of London
2005-6
AHRC Professional Research Masters Award, Visual Anthropology
2003
Millennium Commission Award – UK lottery funding
2002
First Base, ACAVA Studio Award, London
2001
Bloomberg New Contemporaries
Collections
Arts Council of England
The New Contemporaries Archive, UK
V Tape Archive, Toronto, Canada
Selected Talks/Artist Events
2017
DEEP ANGER TRUE LOVE TENDER CARE, the Horse Hospital, July 2017
Spectacular Evidence, performance at Artsadmin, March 2017
2016
“The Fruit is there to be Eaten”. Artist’s talk: Artsadmin November 2016
2015
“Reach Out” Tate Modern, Clore Corridor and screening room, November 2015
2014
On Madame B, Stedelijk Musuem, Amsterdam, September 2014
Artist’s talk, Kingston University, London
Artist’s talk Curatorial School, Valetta, Intenational Visual Arts, August 2014
On Madame B, Universidad EAFIT, Medellín, Colombia, May 2014
Madame B quotation as performance, keynote, Konstrudan Turku, Finland April 2014
Sleep Talking at Project Space Roos Breeuwer, Amsterdam, April 2014
NIAS Keynote lecture, Wassenar, the Netherlands, January 2014
2012
Innocent Interlopers, Artists and the Ethics of Interaction, FABRICA, Brighton, Nov 2012
2011
Violet Culbo, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, November 2011
Goldsmiths College, University of London screening of A Long History of Madness,
Mieke Bal and Michelle Williams Gamaker in conversation
2010
Home Truths – a post-Christmas analysis, Camden Arts Centre, London
New Contemporaries Archive, ICA, London (curated by Sacha Craddock)
“Body/Space Mechanics: Kouneski &Williams Gamaker in conversation, De Hallen, Haarlem
Spatial Relations, Centrum Berlin, Germany
The Space In-Between (Bal & Williams Gamaker) Museum Janus Pannonius, Pécs, Hungary
Mère Folle, KIZ Royal (Kunsthaus) Graz, Austria
Mère Folle, Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Spain
(Mère Folle screenings)
Fondation Nant, Vevey, Switzerland
Freud Museum, Vienna, Austria
Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, Mass.
Columbia University, New York
Huntingdon Cinema Arts Center, Long Island
New York University, New York
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
ASAP Association for the Study of Art in the Present, Trier, German - Bal & Williams Gamaker in conversation
Mère Folle, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands 24/06
Kouneski & Williams Gamaker in conversation, de Hallen, Haarlem, Netherlands
Maison Descartes, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Bal, Davoine & Williams Gamaker in conversation)
Madness and Arts Festival 2010, Filmschuur, Haarlem, Netherlands & Lunch Out of the Box Filmmakers in conversation
Maison Descartes, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2009
Performativity Symposium, Goldsmiths College, London
Scaling COPAN, Live event with Julia Kouneski, Capacete Foundation, São Paulo
Psychoanalysis and Cinema panel guest, at Miss B’s Salon, London
GAGA, Events Day, Goldsmiths College, London
Nice Suit, panel guest, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, London
2008
“2MOVE: Migratory Aesthetics,” panel guest, Belfast, Ireland, May 2008
Border Crossing; Art/Anthropology Exchange, Goldsmiths College, London
Reading The Artist – performance/events day, Goldsmiths College, London
Routemaster General, LONDON film screening, Gallery 176, London (The Zabludowicz Collection)
2007
Open Studio Paul Johnson: In discussion with Michelle Williams, Camden Arts Centre, November
The Celestial Telegraph, The Camden Arts Centre, London
Serena Korda’s Whitstable Reading Group - discussing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
2006
Discussion on Colony at de Appel curating course, Amsterdam
2004
Adieu, Performance with Dale Holmes and Alex Fischer Events Day, de ateliers,
Amsterdam, curated by Michelle Williams and Willem Orbeek